Is ethics just about getting caught?

Robert Sowerby explains why there’s so much more to ethics than it being just another exam to pass

being at the very least economical with the truth, but it is hardly a model upon which you can build enduring business relationships. In simple terms the answer is no.

Professional ethics can be reduced into two aspects, the first of which is simply based on trust. So wrap integrity and objectivity with a healthy sprinkling of competence into how you work and you are a long way towards ensuring that in business you are able to build longterm, mutually beneficial relationships with all stakeholders.

Be straightforward and act without side and the honesty you portray is reflected in the trustworthiness reflected back upon yourself. This is the easy part, or at least the part that you can do without compromising your own being.

Iremember first hearing about ethics as an academic subject to study many years ago when Harvard caused a stir by introducing it on their curriculum. At the time the reportage seemed to be that if you really needed to be educated in ethics there was something fundamentally wrong with you, probably linked to the being born on the wrong side of the tracks or going to the wrong school.

If nothing else, recent history has taught us that your social status appears to have no correlation to your willingness to do right or wrong. It is clear that, in this case at least, Harvard were the harbingers of the future, as the study of ethics has become a central pillar of the professions and many other parts of business education. Not only do we learn what we should be doing, we learn how to resist temptation and how to resolve the inevitable dilemma.

I have been teaching ethics for over 20 years, but I am surprised and dismayed about the perspective of a significant minority of students that is solely about not getting caught.

It’s very simple – we should have no excuse for wrongdoing and that is that. Although it isn’t. We can all recite the five principles of professional behaviour without difficulty, but at the same time a lot of us are aware of morally dubious practices that while not illegal are, at the very least, taking advantage. Is this simply a matter of being in business and doing what you have to do, a ‘dog eat dog’ approach to the world? Should we simply accept that that is the way the world works? Does the narrow approach of business suggested by being devoid of moral practice work in the real world? Yes, you may generate immediate sales by

The slight problem is that it doesn’t end there and this is where a lot of us have more concern. A less discussed issue is that of the need to act in the public interest, when and when not to keep a secret. The idea that you have a higher responsibility than just working for your or your organisation’s goals. If you identify a situation where there is wrongdoing you stand to lose out by acting ethically. There are far too many examples of the whistleblower suffering as a result of their actions.

So do ethical principles assist in good professional behaviour? The answer must be yes, at the very least they ensure that wrongdoers are aware of the breaches that they have made. At best they may be used consciously to determine what the best course of action is.

The slight problem is that too many are willing to study ethics as an abstract academic subject without considering why they are needed, almost as something to circumvent rather than embrace. So studying ethics is not a panacea, it won’t make someone honest when they are determined to break the rules. It may, however, encourage the majority to act more ethically for the good of all.

• Robert Sowerby is an education consultant and expert tutor